Blank feeding means for receptacle body forming apparatus



G. LUTZ Dec. 1,1936.

BLANK FEEDING MEANS FOR RECEPTACLE BODY FORMING APPARATUS Filed July 19,1933 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR GewyeL f;

BY JW ATTORNEY 'Dec. 1, 1936.

G LUTZ v BLANK FEEDING MEANS FOR RECEPTACLE BODY FORMING APPARATUS FiledJuly 19', 193.3 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR (i'corgeL all; 7

ATT

ORN Y Patented Dec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BLANK FEEDINGMEANS or; RECEPTACLE BODY FORMING APPARATUS Application July 19, 1933,Serial No. 681,137

10 Claims. (01. 271-54) This invention relates to means for feeding anddelivering sheets from a sheet support to operating means, andparticularly for delivering blanks of predetermined size and shaperelative to means for wrapping the blank about a. mandrel in areceptacle body forming apparatus to form the blank to tubular shape,and it is the principal object of the invention to provide means forthis purpose which is simple and inexpensive to construct, and highlyeificient in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide sheet gripping jaws insheet feeding means which are adapted to be actuated to position topermit of the engagement of a sheet between the jaws by a force exertedon the jaws by the resistance to the movement of the jaws toward thesheet support and actuated to sheet clamping position by a force exerted.on the jaws by the movement of the jaws away from the sheet support.

It has heretofore been the practice in receptacle body forming apparatusof this type to feed the sheets or blanks from a support to a shelfbelow the mandrel by suction means embodying suction cups carried at theend of tubes reciprocated toward and away from the sheet support andconnected by flexible tubing to vacuum creating means. The invention ofthis application eliminates the use of the vacuum creating means,driving means for said vacuum creating means and the flexible tubingconnecting the vacuum creating means to the tubes, thereby not onlyreducing the cost of material but also the necessary labor for machiningand assembling said additional parts.

In carrying out the invention there is provided a reciprocating carrierfor pairs of jaws adapted to be actuated toward and away from a sheet orblank support in a direction transversely of a mandrel and relative to asheet engaging abutment for stripping the sheets from the jaws upon thereturn movement of the carrier and registering the sheets relative tothe mandrel, one jaw of each pair of jaws being fixed and adapted toengage and support a sheet and theother jaw movable toward and away fromthe fixed jaw and normally assuming a position in engagement with saidfixed jaw and actuated away from said jaw by the forward movement of thecarrier toward the sheet support to permit the ready engagement of asheet on the support between the jaws by a force exerted on the movablejaw by resistance of the jaw to such movement, and the sheetbeingclamped between the jaws at the terminus of the forward movement by themova ble jaw assuming its normal position, and the movable jaw adaptedto clamp the sheet between the jaws by a forceexerted on said jaw by theresistance to the return movement thereof with the carrier away frornthe sheet support.

In the drawings accompanying and forming Figure 2 is a view looking atthe top of Figure 1 with a portion of the apparatus removed to show thesheet feeding mechanism.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a I pair clamping jaws in normalposition.

Figure 4 is a view looking at'the top of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is aside elevation lookingat the bottom of Figure 4 and showinga sheet clamped between the jaws.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the fixed jaw.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the movable Jaw.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 5, partly in section, to show themounting of the fixed jaw and a spring carried by the movable jaw tourge the jaw to sheet clamping position. I .Figure 9 is a view similarto Figure 8 showing in section a modified form of movable jaw; and

Figure 10 is a viewlooking at the top of Figure 9.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings as being embodied in anapparatus for making truncated conical receptacle bodies, comprising abed ll adapted to support in elevated position a truncated conicalmandrel t2 about which mandrel slidablyniounted in a guide member 5supported by and extended through the bed I l and reciprocated from ashaft [6 through a lever I! pivotally supported intermediate its ends,as at l8, by a end of the lever pivotally connected to the plunger 13through links 20 and the opposite end carrying a rollerfi l engagingacam groove 22 ina disk 23 .fixed on the shaft I6. After the blank thesame with the marginal portions overlapped by apair of flaps 24 ofarcuate shape in cross section corresponding to the shape of the mandrel35. asheet or blank b of suitable size and shape is v 4 bracket l9suspended from the bed I I with one" .50 is clamped to the mandrel it iswrapped about .l2 pivotal1 y carried by arms .25 pivotal1ysupported inthe bifurcated ends of .a head 26 mounted on the ends of a pair ofplungers 21 slidably mounted in the guide member I5 on opposite sides ofthe blank clamping plunger l3, as shown in Figure 1, and actuated towardthe mandrel when the blank has been clamped thereto by a lever 28pivotally mounted on the bracket i9 above the lever I1, as at 29, withone end bifurcated and pivotally connected to the lower ends of saidplungers 21, as at 30, the opposite end of lever 28 carrying a roller 3|engaging and following a cam groove 32 in disk 23. The flaps 24 areyieldingly urged toward each other by a spring 33 connected to the arms25 and in their normal position are maintained in spaced relation byrollers 34 mounted on the opposed sides of the arms 25 engaging the sideedges of plunger l3 and during the movement of the plungers 2? towardthe mandrel the rollers 34 ride along converging edge portions 35 of theplunger !3 permitting the. flaps under the force of spring 33 to engageand wrap the blank about the mandrel, as shown in dotted lines in Figure1.

The overlapped marginal portions of the blank wrapped about the mandrelare secured together by an adhesive strip 3 applied to'the overlappedmarginal portions of the blank under pressure of an anvil 36 carried atone end of a ram in the form of a lever 37 supported by trunnions 38extending from the sides intermediate the ends of the lever engagingbearings 39 in a pair of spaced standards 40 fixed upon the bed II, theopposite end of the ram lever carrying a roller 4| engaging in andfollowing a cam groove 42 in a disk 43 fixed to a shaft d4 journaled instandards 45 supported by the bed It and driven from a suitable sourceof power such as an electric motor, not

shown. Shaft 44 is operatively connected to shaft I6 by a gear train 65,one gear of which meshes with a bevel pinion l? fixed to a shaft 48having a 'gear connection 39 with shaft M, as shown in Figure 1. The camgroove 62 in disk 43 is arranged to actuate the anvil end of the ramtoward the mandrel in timed sequence with the wrapping of the blank babout the mandrel.

The invention of this application is to provide an inexpensive andefliciently operating mechanism for feeding or delivering the blank I)from a suitable support in the form of a shelf 50 supported from the bedll by a bracket 5| on the side of the mandrel opposite to the mountingof the ram 3'! and extending in a plane between the mandrel and thenormal position of the plunger "pad It. To engage a blank on the shelfby the operator of the apparatus the shelf is provided with a gauge 53adjustably mounted on the shelf 'adjacent the outer end thereof byscrews 54 threaded into the platform and engaged in slots of ears 55extending laterally of the gauge, as shown in Figure 2, and a pin 56fixed in and extended perpendicularly from the shelf for the engagementof an edge of the blank. The blank shelf having an opening 59 therein topermit movement of the pad and flaps toward and from the mandrel. Theshelf 51 extends in a horizontal plane at a lower level than the support50 with the margin of the shelf adjacent said sup- 7 port 55] curveddownwardly, as at 60 in Figure 1,

to facilitate the delivery of the blank I) from the support 5!! to shelf51. A pair of spaced recesses 6! are extended into the edge of thesupport 50 opposite to the curved margin 60 of the shelf 51 whichrecesses are bridged by the blank to facilitate the engagement of theblank by the blank transferring or feeding means.

The means for transferring a blank I) from the support 59 to the shelf5! comprises a pair of rods 62, shown as tubes, mounted to belongitudinally reciprocated between a pair of spaced plates 33 supportedby arms 6t extended laterally from standards an. The rods are mounted onthe plates I53 by a carriage 55 having a pair of spaced sockets at theforward end for the engagement of the tubes and rollers 66 mounted onthe sides at both ends thereof to rotatably engage parallel slots Blextending longitudinally in the plates 33 and terminating adjacent theends of the plates with a portion of each slot adjacent the rear endoffset in an upwardly direction, as at 63, whereby the carriage isretained in its rearmost or inactive position and prevented from movingforward accidentally by the rear rollers E56 abutting the raised portionof the lower wall of the slots forming part of the offset portion 68, asshown in Figure 1. The carriage 65 is reciprocated by an arm 69pivotally mounted at one end on a bracket 13 fixed to the surfacesupporting the bed H, the opposite end extending through an elongatedopening H in the bed II and pivotally connected to the carriage by alink i2 adjustably connected to the arm and carriage, as at 13, to varythe position of the carriage relative to its actuating arm 69. The arm69 is actuated from the shaft it by a roller 14 engaging in andfollowing a cam groove 15 in a disk 16 fixed on the shaft 66, the roller14 being carried by an arm Ti pivotally supported by a bracket 18 on thebed support, the arm 11 being pivotally connected to arm 59 by a linkI9.

The mandrel I2 is arranged on the underside with a pair of, parallelchannels 88 extending transversely thereof for the passage of the rods52 in their travel toward and away from the blank support 50.

The free ends of the rods 62 opposite to the ends engaged in thecarriage sockets 65 are arranged with means to engage and grip theportions of blank I) spanning or bridging the recesses 6| in the support50 and transfer and position said blank on the shelf 51 in abuttingrelation to a gauge 8! mounted on the shelf 51, as at 82 in Figure 2, tohave adjustment toward and away from the mandrel to accommodatedifferent size blanks and having a pair of spaced openings 83 therein inalinement with the channels in the mandrel for the passage of. the rods62, the gauge 8| positioning the blank in register with the mandrel sothat the blank will be properly wrapped about the mandrel by the flaps24.

The blank gripping means, as shown in Figures 1 to 8, inclusive,comprises a fixed jaw in the form of angle member, one angle or legportion 85 having a stem 35 projecting from the rear thereof to beengaged in the bore of the rods -62 should the rods be of tubularstructure as disclosed in the drawings or a recess in the ends or rodsshould the rods be of solid structure. The other angle portion 85 of theangle member extends forwardly of the free ends of the rods and is offiat cross sectional shape to form a support for the blank, the outerend being beveled, as at 8?, to assure the engagement of said jaw belowthe blank on the support 53, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. Theblank 1) is clamped to the jaw 86 by a movable jaw comprising a block 88of greater width and thickness than the jaw 86 to provide weight and tofacilitate the operation and clamping action thereof on the blank I)supported by the fixed jaw 86. One end of the block is bifurcated, as at89, adapted to straddle the angle portion 84 of. the fixed jaw andpivotally mounted thereon by a pin 98 engaged in a bore 9| extendingtransversely through the angle portion 84 at the juncture thereof withjaw 86, with the ends projecting from the opposite sides engagingperforations in the legs of the bifurcation 89 at the bottom section ofthe block 88 with the body of said jaw block extending over and causedto engage the jaw 86 by the weight thereof. By this arrangement of thejaw 88 said jaw by the movement of the rods 82 toward the blank support58 will have movement on the pin 98 in a direction away from the fixedjaw 88 by a force exerted on the movable jaw by the resistance to themovement of. the jaws with the rods. The jaw 88 is mounted on theportion 84 of jaw 88 with the portion between the bifurcation 88 inspaced relation to the angle portion 84 to pemit of the pivotal movementof the jaw 88 and also limit the movement of the jaw 88 away from thejaw 86 by said portion between the bifurcation I legs abutting theportion 84. Prior to the termination of the movement of the jaw carryingrods 62 toward the blank support 50 the jaws are positioned within therecesses 6! with each jaw on opposite sides of the blank on saidsupport, and at the termination of said movement of. the rods the jaw 88will move toward the jaw 88 by gravity and clamp the blank to said jaw85. During the retrograde movement of the rods 82 away from the blanksupport 50 the jaw 88 is urged into blank clamping position by the forceexerted on said jaw to the resistance of said retrograde movement of thejaws. To prevent the blank from being withdrawn from the jaws by thedrag of the blank during the blank feeding movement the under orclamping face of. the jaw 88 is arranged with a ridge 92 extendedtransversely and in the approximate center of the weight of said jaw,and the underface of the jaw 88 extends from the ridge to the free endin an inclined direction, as at 93, to facilitate the engaging of theblank b between the jaws. To further assure the clamping of the blankbetween the jaws and should the weight of the jaw 88 be insufficient tofirmly hold the blank to the jaw 86, the jaw 83 may be yieldingly urgedtoward jaw 88. For this purpose a coiled spring 94 is engaged in arecess '95 extended into the wall between the legs of the bifurcation 89of the jaw 88, as shown in Figure 8, the spring being of a length toextend from the recess and abut the inner side of the angle portion 84of jaw 86 but not of sufiicient strength to prevent the movement of thejaw 88 away from the jaw 86 by the coercive force exerted on said jaw bythe movement thereof. with the rods toward the blank support 58.

A modified form of jaws is shown in Figures 9 and 10 which are alsoadapted to be actuated by a coercive force exerted thereon by themovement thereof with the jaw carrying rods 82 toward and away from theblank support 58. In said arrangement the fixed jaw comprises abifurcated or U shaped member 96 having a stem projecting from the rearof the connecting portion of the legs of the bifurcation, similar to thestem 85 of the fixed jaw shown in Figures 3 to 6 and 8, for connectionwith the rods 62, as shown in Figures 9 and 10. A leg 91 of the U member96 corresponds to the jaw 86 and constitutes the fixed blank supportingjaw. The movable jaw is pivotally supported by the other leg portion '98of member 96 and comprises a block 99 the face of which is of convexform in longitudinal section. The rear or face opposed to the convexface is arranged with a channel I88 extending longitudinally of theblock 99. The leg portion 98 engages in the block channel 580 and theblock is pivotally mounted on said leg 98 by a pin l0! engaged in a boreextending transversely through the leg 98 adjacent the free end thereofwith the ends of the pin extended from the opposite sides of said legengaging perforations in the sides of the channel E88, so that theconvexface of the block 89 will normally engage the fixed jaw'91 bygravity. It will readily be seen from Figure 9 that a force exerted onthe block by the resistance to the movement thereof with its carryingrod 62 toward the blank support 58 will impart movement to the jaw block99 on the pin IUI in a direction away from the jaw 97, the channel "30being of greater depth than the thickness of the leg portion 98permitting movement of the jaw 99 away from jaw 8'! sufficient to permitof the ready engagement of a blank between the jaws. At the terminus ofthe forward movement of the jaw carrying rods toward the blank support58 the jaw 98 will clamp the blank against the jaw 9! by gravity and theforce exerted on the jaw 88 during the retrograde movement of the rods52 away from the blank support 58 will urge the jaw 99 into clampingposition. The blank I is securely retained between the jaws 9?, 98during the retrograde movement of the rods by providing a point ofcontact between the movable jaw 99 and the blank due to the convexformation of the gripping face of said jaw.

In both forms. of jaws illustrated in the drawings the blank is releasedfrom the jaws by the travel of the jaws past the gauge 8| and theabutting of the leading edges of the blank against the gauge will stripthe blank from the jaws and position the blank on the shelf 5? inregister with the mandrel.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In means for feeding sheets relative to a mandrel in receptacle bodyforming apparatus, a pair of jaws adapted to be reciprocated in a planeparallel to the plane and transversely of the mandrel, one jaw of eachpair of said jaws fixed and the other jaw pivotally carried by the fixedjaw to have movement toward and away from and normally urged to engagethe fixed jaw, said pivoted jaw being adapted by the'resistance of thejaw to the forward movement thereof to be moved away from the fixed jawto permit engagement of a sheet between the jaws, and at the terminus ofsaid forward movement moving by gravity to clamp the sheet engagedbetween the jaws, and said pivoted jaw by the resistance to the returnmovement of the jaw urged to sheet clamping position, and an abutmentfixed in predetermined relation to the mandrel adapted to be engaged byand strip the sheet from the jaws and register the sheet relative to themandrel during the return movement of the jaws.

2. In means for feeding sheets relative to a mandrel in receptacle bodyforming apparatus, rods reciprocatory transversely of the mandrel, a jawfixed to and projecting forwardly of each rod, another jaw carried byeach rod to have movement toward and away from and normally urged intoengagement with the fixed jaw and adapted to be urged away from thefixed jaw by the resistance of said jaw to the forward movement thereofwith the rods to permitofthereadyengagement of a sheet between the jawsand at the terminus of the forward movement assuming its normal positionwith the sheet clamped between the jaws, and the movable jaw urged tosheet clamping position during the return movement of the rods by theresistance thereof to said return movement, and an abutment positionedin predetermined relation to the mandrel to be engaged by and strip thesheet from the jaws and register the sheet relative to the mandrel.

3. Sheet feeding means as claimed in claim 2, wherein the fixed jaw isprovided with a flat horizontal gripping face and the forward endinclined from the back toward the face of the jaw to facilitate theengagement of said jaw below the sheet, and the movable jaw is pivotallymounted at the rear lower portion thereof at the rear end of the fixedjaw to adapt the pivoted jaw to be normally urged to engage the fixedjaw by gravity.

4. Sheet feeding means as claimed in claim 2, wherein the fixed jawcomprises one leg of a bifurcated member fixed to the rods with thebifurcation legs arranged in superposed relation, and the movable jaw ispivotally mounted at the outer end of the upper leg of and within thebifurcated member, whereby the movable jaw by gravity and the resistanceto the reciprocal movement thereof with the rods is urged toward andaway from the fixed jaws.

5. In receptacle body forming apparatus, a mandrel, a support forreceptacle blanks, a shelf below the mandrel, an abutment on said shelf,for the engagement and registering of a blank on the shelf with themandrel, pairs of sheet feeding jaws, and a reciprocatory carrier forthe jaws adapted to move the jaws transversely of and between themandrel and shelf in a direction toward and away from the blank support,one jaw of each pair of jaws being fixed on the carrier and the otherjaw pivotally carried by the fixed jaw to have movement toward and awayfrom the fixed jaw and adapted to normally engage the fixed jaw and tobe urged away from the fixed jaw by the resistance of the jaw to themovement thereof toward the blank support to facilitate the engagementof an edge portion of a blank on the support between the jaws, and atthe terminus of said movement toward the support assume its normalposition to clamp the blank between the jaws and urged to blank clampingposition by the resistance of the jaw to the return movement thereofaway from the blank support and the blank during the feeding movementthereof engaging the abutment and thereby is released from the jaws andpositioned on the shelf in predetermined registry with the mandrel.

6. Receptacle forming apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the fixedjaws comprise a member of right angle form in longitudinal section, oneangle portion constituting the jaw and fixed by the other angle portionon the carrier with the face of the jaw extending in a horizontal plane,and the pivoted jaws are of block form having one end bifurcated andpivotally connected at said bifurcated end below the longitudinal centerof the block to the fixed jaws at the juncture of the angle portionsthereof with the legs of the bifurca' tion embracing the opposite sidesof the angle portion of the jaws fixed on the carrier whereby thepivoted jaws are adapted to normally assume a position in engagementwith the fixed jaws.

7. In sheet feeding means, a pair of sheet gripping jaws, areciprocatory carrier'for the jaws adapted to longitudinally reciprocatethe jaws, one of said jaws being fixed on the carrier and the other jawpivotally carried by the fixed jaw to have movement toward and away fromthe fixed jaw and normally assuming a position in engagement with thefixed jaw, and said pivoted law arranged whereby it is adapted to beurged in a direction away from the fixed jaw during the movement of thejaws in one direction by the resistance of said pivoted jaw to saidmovement thereof, and said pivoted jaw urged toward the fixed jaw by theresistance of said pivoted jaw to the movement thereof in the oppositedirection.

8. In sheet feeding means, a reciprocatory supn,

cation legs below the longitudinal center of the block, and the face ofthe pivoted jaw opposed to the face of the fixed jaw diverging from apoint intermediate the ends toward the front end and back of the jawadapted to resist the forward movement of the jaw and thereby urged awayfrom the fixed jaw during the forward movement thereof and facilitatethe engaging of an edge portion of a sheet between the jaws, and urgedtoward the fixed jaw during the retrograde movement by the resistance ofthe pivoted jaw to such movement.

9. In sheet feeding means, sheet gripping jaws, one jaw being of rightangle form in longitudinal section and one angle portion thereofconstituting the sheet engaging portion thereof, and the other jawmovably carried by and extending parallelly of the sheet engagingportion of the first jaw, comprising a rectangular member having abifurcation at one end to embrace the angle portion of the first jawextending at a right angleto the sheet engaging portion and pivotallyconnected at the rear end below the longitudinal center to the junctureof the angle portions of said first jaw and having a reduced sheetengaging face, and the ends of the sheet engaging faces of the jawsdeclining from the face toward the end and back to facilitate engaging asheet between the jaws.

10. In sheet feeding means, a reciprocatory carrier, a jaw having a fiatsheet engaging surface fixed at one end to and extending forward of thecarrier, and a jaw pivotally mounted at the rear end below thelongitudinal center thereof on the rear end of the fixed jaw to extendparallelly of and have movement toward and away from and normally engagethe sheet engaging face of the fixed jaw and participate with the fixedjaw in the reciprocatory movements of the carrier, said pivoted jawhaving a ridge extending transversely of and projecting fromintermediate the ends of the face thereof to constitute the sheetengaging portion of the jaw and adapted by the resistance of the jaw tothe forward movement thereof with the carrier to be urged away from thefixed jaw and by the resistance of the jaw to rearward movement thereofurged toward the fixed jaw.

GEORGE LUTZ.

